1st global war: a war history of the 2nd World War as played with
SPI's Global War
I have chosen the title as this was my first game using the
Global War Game. As with most of my games it was played solitaire
despite the large number of US Forces in Frankfurt there is
apparently no Gaming Club here).
Historical events up to September 1939 are well known to all gamers so
I shall not elaborate on the details which led up to the sudden attack
by German Submarines on major shipping routes in the Autumn of 1939.
The Allies responded slowly allocating escorts to their shipping in the
area around Europe. A British submarine screen was placed in the North
Sea to attempt to keep the German heavy units in port. The Germans
continued to snipe at shipping throughout the remainder of the Autumn
of 1939, forcing the Allies (Britain and France) to reallocate much
needed shipping at the turn of the year.
On land, the Germans overran Poland (which was partitioned with the
Soviet Union), the Low Countries, Denmark, and Eastern France in quick
succession. Their first check came when an amphibious attack on South-
ern Norway was attempted. In an attempt to shore up their defence in
France, the French withdrew colonial forces from Algeria to Brest. In
the Far East the Japanese continued their 'colonial' war in China with
little success.
The United States instigated a convoy system of its own to India via
the Cape and to the United Kingdom via the North Atlantic. In view of
continuing rumblings in the Far East the Philippine Islands were rein-
forced.
The winter of 1939/40 was marked by the large number of German
successes in Europe though minor setbacks were experienced in Norway.
The amphibious fleet returned from Oslo to Kiel, leaving the army units
campaigning in Norway in a difficult supply position. In the North Sea
a major coup occurred in December when a large German task force
surprised a British convoy and destroyed its escorting naval units.
Some submarines from the German force were lost to counterattacks.
Convoy escorts were reinforced by the Allies, who were assisted by the
escape of the Bearn from Toulon to Scapa Flow. The French despatched
their submarines to the French Colony in the Far East, which they felt
was threatened by the incursions of the Japanese. Alexandria was
reinforced by British units, following reports by spies in Rome that
Italy was planning to enter the war on the side of the Germans.
This rumour was substantiated when in January 1940 Allied naval units
intercepted German transport vessels en route to the Mediterranean .
On land the Germans totally occupied France and Yugoslavia. Greece was
under attack as well at this time. In Norway the German assault force
was feeling the lack of supplies. Despite pressure on Sweden to supply
the units, or at least allow the Germans to supply their units through
Swedish ports, that country refused to be forced to violate her own
neutrality ( this while still supplying Germany with Iron ore--of course
this was a commercial venture though).
In the Far East the Japanese continued their Campaign in China, but
still had little success.
The British continue to dither and after much debate despatched troops
to Norway to assist that country in her fight against the invaders.
In March 1940 German submarines caught a British aircraft carrier in the
North Sea and severely damaged it. The much feared attack by Italy in
the Mediterranean materialised in this month with a major offensive by
her submarines. Allied shipping ceased to exist east of Gibraltar and
Mussolini's 'Mare Nostrum' came into being.
The Japanese, seeing the Axis successes in Europe, and the apparent lack
of any concerted planning by the Allies, began to move her naval units
round the Chinese station. A large surface fleet was despatched to the
waters round Hong Kong to intimidate the British. In the Mediterranean
the Allies launched a sortie with all available forces from Gibraltar
against the Italian naval base at Taranto. The force was spotted en
route and most of the fleet escaped, though one major force was caught
just leaving port and destroyed. Flushed with their success the fleet
then destroyed the Italian convoys supplying North Africa.
April 1940 saw the revenge of the Italian Navy with an attack on
Alexandria. The Allies spotted this move and withdrew their units
through the Suez Canal.
In the South Atlantic the Germans continued their submarine offensive,
accompanied at the end of the month by a sortie by heavy units to attack
convoys. These units then returned to Brest, a base now gained due to
the collapse of France. The Italians soon regretted their carelessness
in attacking Alexandria without the element of surprise on their side,
for the intact Allied fleet then returned to complete the work
previously commenced in March. The remaining heavy units were destroyed
in port.
April 1940 also saw a sortie by the Naval Group Scapa Flow (formed out
of the French and British Navies). Their mission- - to destroy the
German heavy units in Brest --was accomplished without loss. May 1940
was comparatively quiet following the activities of the previous two
months.
The convoy system continued to operate, though the remorseless attacks
by the German submarines had thinned out the numbers of vessels
available.
Spring 1940 saw the commencement of the German aerial offensive against
Britain. Centres of production were bombed heavily and the output of six
factories was reduced to nil in a heavy raid on the Midlands.
On land the Swedes continued to refuse to supply the Germans with the
result that the Norwegian Force surrendered. Greece surrendered to the
Axis in April 1940, and the Italians began to march on Egypt. The
Commonwealth quickly replied to this by sealing off both ends of the
Mediterranean with land forces in Suez and Gibraltar.
The summer of 1940 was very quiet on the naval front. It was almost as
though the war had been forgotten, The only activity of note was the
grouping in the Eastern Mediterranean of the Task Force to counter
Italian submarines.
The bombing offensive against Britain continued with less success than
that predicted by the Luftwaffe High Command.
Due to the worries caused to Italy in the Mediterranean the Germans
launched a surprise attack on Spain. This was so completely unexpected
that no resistance was offered to the Germans as they overran the whole
Iberian peninsula, occupying the much desired base in Gibraltar.
Optimists in Berlin said that the successful attack at one British base
should be followed up with an easy attack on Suez. Rather than risk the
army in an amphibious operation the High Command decided on a land
attack through Turkey. Again Italy was also at the back of this move,
due to her lack of protection given to convoys to her forces in Africa,
which were now suffering from supply problems.
Autumn 1940 saw an Italian submarine attack on the Allied convoy routes
to Suez. The inexperienced Italian commanders lost several of their
numbers to counterattacks.
The bombing of the United Kingdom continued with decreasing effect.
On land the determined resistance by the Turkish Army in Anatolia made
the German assault forces grind to a halt. The Italians in North Africa
surrendered to the British Suez garrison due to lack of supplies. The
German armoured force that had thrust ahead into Syria was now cut off
from supply by Turkish occupied lines.
Winter 1940/41 saw a surprise British submarine attack into the Baltic.
The German defences had relaxed due to the successes of the summer. The
balance was redressed by the Axis submarine offensive from the newly won
Atlantic Coast bases.
In the air the Axis offensive had a major success with a blanket raid on
the factory complexes of the Midlands. Nine factory units were put out
of commission by this raid.
On land the Axis occupied Turkey, whose collapse had only been a matter
of time. The Suez Canal fell shortly after this. After a long lull the
Chinese campaign started again. The Japanese had still no success in
their attempted 'colonialisation' of China.
In the Spring of 1941 the Commonwealth sent submarines to the South of
Suez to ensure that the Axis were unable to use their newly won
Mediterranean lake for supply. Due to the long lines of communication
the Germans were unable to keep the length of the Suez Canal patrolled.
Allied submarines operated from camouflaged bases in the Bitter Lakes,
sortieing at night to Suez and shelling shipping. The ports at the North
of the Canal had been completely razed by the British before their
surrender. The Allied convoys were reinforced and US vessels forced to
proceed independently due to German warnings that US vessels sailing in
U K convoys would be attacked without prior identification.
The German air offensive against Britain met with a determined
resistance due to built up defences. For the first time major losses
were experienced.
In the Summer of 1941 the Germans continued their submarine offensive in
the South Atlantic. This caused a major disruption of allied convoys to
India. The allied submarines continued to force the Straits of Gibraltar
and the Canal Zone to disrupt Italian convoys, which were still sailing
with small escorts due to the losses earlier in the war.
The air offensive against Britain continued to cause minor disruption,
but nothing to the same extent as that of the campaign of 1 940.
In June the Germans launched an attack on the Russian front. A two
pronged attack through Poland and Turkey caught the defences off
balance. Major territorial gains were made and it was hoped that this
campaign would soon be concluded. In France preparations are made for an
assault on the British Isles. The Suez Canal Zone is now totally
occupied by the Germans and the Allied submarines based in the South are
withdrawn.
In September 1941 German heavy units broke out from Kiel, where they had
been completed following a crash programme to rebuild the fleet, despite
protest from the other arms, particularly the Luftwaffe. In their cruise
they managed to destroy the tattered remnants of the Allied convoys.
Soviet naval units in the Baltic were previously destroyed in the
'working up' cruise of these units. In the Pacific, Pearl Harbour was
attacked by the Japanese. US supply to it's island outposts was cut off.
Due to poor co-ordination in the area most of the US naval units were
destroyed in piecemeal operations. A major loss was that of the main
submarine flotilla, which had been on a working -up cruise to try out
German wolf pack tactics. Due to a navigational error the large group
fell in with the main Japanese fleet and was destroyed.
In an attempt to contain Axis naval units in the Mediterranean the
British placed a submarine screen round the Straits of Gibraltar.
Despite this, Axis units still managed to break out into the Atlantic.
In the air the bombing of British construction facilities continued.
Scottish shipyards, up till now untouched, became the object of heavy
air raids. Six yards were put out of action for the season. The Axis
continued its attacks in Russia and China. Japan captured Midway Island,
which sealed the fate of the remaining island garrisons, which were now
unsupplied.
By February 1942 the Axis were pulling all the strings on the Seas. A
massive naval push in the Atlantic and Pacific removed the last
remaining strength of the Allies. Japanese submarines were reported in
the Persian Gulf.
The aerial defences of Britain had been continually strengthened. The
Germans had placed all their faith in building offensively for their
bombing of Britain, which they hoped would make the country see reason.
In January 1942 a massive British air raid by forces built up and held
secretly in Northern Ireland took place on the Ruhr. Eleven towns were
bombed continually that month, forcing all the population to remain in
the shelters for 23 of 24 hours. Production in the factories was
virtually brought to a stand still. In Russia the troops pushed on East
wards towards the centres of production East of the Urals.
In the Pacific the US garrisons surrendered to the Japanese.
The Spring of 1942 saw continuing Axis attacks in the Atlantic, however
the Allied submarines were still a thorn in the side of the Naval High
Command, as they appeared suddenly at the least expected points, usually
causing losses in escort units.
The bombing offensives, against both Britain and Germany, now.continued
with little effect. On land the Germans attack on in Russia .
In August 1942 the Axis are being attacked in the Baltic and North Sea
by the British submarines, still operating from Scapa Flow. In the Far
East the Japanese attack Vladivostok shipping and the supply line from
the Soviet Union to the United States is severed. The Allied bombing of
Germany is being stepped up. The German attacks on Britain have only
half the effect of those of the enemy. In the Far East, the Japanese
make an amphibious landing in Vladivostok and capture the Eastern
Industrial area of the Soviet Union. The Germans make a sudden landing
in Neutral Eire, which leads the British to seriously consider the point
of war which they cannot hope to win, as news of the surrender of the
Soviet Union and Creation of an Independent State of the Ukraine is
received in London. As a result the British sue for peace with Germany,
and the United States, now reduced to a nation with no maritime power to
speak of, signs a Treaty of Mutual Non-Aggression with Japan.
The Later Years
Relations between the United States and Japan are normalised after a few
years, and Japan leaves the Axis under pressure from political factions
at home. The United States still kept watch over the Atlantic in the
direction of Britain, where the Germans had set up a puppet government.
In Germany itself the people begin to stir themselves up due to
injustices perpetrated by National Socialist officials, who believed
that they had won the war from their seats in Berlin. There was no
pension for the relatives and dependents of those lost while creating
the Reich, due to the excessive costs of supporting the economies of the
countries under German control.
Partisan movements had sprung up in many of the occupied countries,
especially France, where despite promises to Marshal Petain no State of
Vichy had been declared. The Germans had feared that the French Navy
would not swear loyalty to Vichy, and continue to operate from Britain.
Furthermore the lack of co-operation between French and Commonwealth
units in the war had been one of the deciding factors in Germany's
favour.
The Partisan movements caused havoc by destroying most of the vital
services on a regular basis. The resulting costs to the German
Occupation troops were high. Continued conscription two years after the
end of the war caused a civil and military revolt in Southern Germany,
which was suppressed with unsurpassed viciousness by two SS Divisions
causing the final break between the National Socialist Party and the
Army. An Army Putsch took place in August 1944 and the major leaders of
the Party were arrested at an annual 'Victory Party' by the Officer
Corps. At this time the United States announced that it had developed
the ultimate weapon--the Atomic Bomb. An ultimatum was sent to
Berlin--withdraw from the Occupied Territories of Europe, or the Bomb
would be dropped on Berlin. To show the power at their disposal, one of
the test bombs was exploded in an atoll in the Pacific before
representatives of the major Governments of the world. This 'last appeal
to reason' brought the world to its senses. Europe was 'set free' by May
1945 and reverted to its pre-1939 boundaries, with the exception of
Poland, which gained much of Western Russia, bordering on the Baltic.
The Independent State of the Ukraine was given to a Free State of
Russia, which was roughly 50/50 Communist and White Russian (fol lowing
resettlement in the German Occupied Areas by exiles).
As a result of the First Global War Europe was left with the Sword of
Damocles hanging over it in the form of the Atomic Bomb. This terror
weapon was based in Greenland and a unit was placed on constant alert
with the weapon armed and ready for action until January 1946, when
Europe had more or less been normalised.
Andrew D Finch